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The Definitive Undisputed Wiki

Undisputed Exclusive Feature Editorials

Everything you need to know about Undisputed (ESBC).

Welcome to the definitive Undisputed, eSports Boxing Club Wiki. Updated September 2022.

eSports Boxing Club is set to be the first simulation boxing video game in over a decade. The game continues its development at Steel City Interactive studio, in the United Kingdom. Per ESBC’s website, SCI is planning to release the title on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X Consoles, alongside a PC release on Steam.

ESBC quickly won the hearts of the global sports gaming community when it began dropping gameplay videos and screenshots of its realistic boxing game in Spring ’21. The hype peaked with the announcement of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez as the cover athlete for ESBC. The game continues to be under development in the UK.

No release date is confirmed at this time.

Developer: Steel City Interactive, United Kingdom; Publisher: Steel City Interactive, United Kingdom.

Director(s): Founder and Studio Head — Ash Habib; Development Director-Asad Habib; Art Director — Andy Turner; Director of Operations — Andy Jackson; Director of Global Communications — Will Kinsler; Human Resources Manager: Laura Treanor; Programmers: George Corkery, Bryron Andrews; Senior Gameplay Programmer — Ethan Bruins. Producers: Ehson Khaliq. Artists: Character Artist — Francesco Primiceri; Harry Clark, Thomas Wood, Kieran Howlett, Alejandro Elias, Senior UI Artist — Joshua Pearson; Senior Environment Artist — James Larden; Albion Sothcott, Senior Character Artist — Viqhaas Mehmood. QA Testers: QA Console Specialist — William Brooke; Charles Joshua Gee, Daniel Yates.

Engine(s): N/A; Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X Consoles, Steam (PC); Genre: Sports Gaming; Boxing; eSports.

Game Modes: Career Mode; Story Mode post launch, Create-a-Boxer; Exhibition Online, Ranked Online, WBC Online Championships.

Partners & Licenses: CompuBox; British Boxing Board of Control; Empire Pro Tape; WBC; The Ring; IBF; Ten 24 Digital Capture.

Updated May 2022

ESBC and SCI have dropped numerous gameplay videos of alpha footage over the last two years. According to Steel City Interactive Art Director, Andy Turner, the footwork system is based on 100 percent motion capture data.

First, the boxer movement looks buttery smooth. Fighters constantly bounce on the balls of their feet. The constant motion brings the fighters to life and suggests a degree of responsiveness when moving in and out of various animations.

The alpha also demonstrates fighter momentum. I’d like to see how this plays out and differentiates amongst the incredible roster of fighters in ESBC. Each fighter’s weight is considered in the speed at which they can pivot and shift their weight from the footage. ESBC also appears to include momentum and weight in the dodge and weave mechanics. This contrasts with the first gameplay video, where weight did not seem to slow the heavyweight fighter’s momentum. We won’t know for sure until a playable demo drops.

The camera logic is equally as impressive. The alpha footage showcases a camera that dynamically cuts in during intense exchanges, and pans out when the fighters get wide. Furthermore, the zoom-lock on the fighters creates a cinematic bokeh effect, blurring the crowd out of focus with a shallow depth of field. The bokeh, cinematic feel peaks at the height of the in-ring action with intense zoom and camera panning. The timing is exceptional.

The camera engine in the alpha footage simulates Sony’s top-rated mirrorless Alpha, “A” series cameras, and the visuals are striking. The Sony Alpha line exploded in the sports videography scene when they first debuted in a Fox NFL Broadcast back in December of 2020. As a Sony Alpha enthusiast, I can confidently say ESBC captures the mirrorless camera’s film aesthetic. From afar, ESBC looks and consequently feels like a Christopher Nolan production.

As fighters bob and weave with the weave modifier, the lighting, reflections, and shadows appear to dynamically adapt. Light reflects off body areas where sweat is most prominent and is absorbed by other textures, such as the ring canvas. It looks polished for an alpha demo.

The color profile settings on the camera for this particular arena shown in the alpha footage above help the artificial light to pop off the screen. The red and white artificial lighting in the stadium contrasts beautifully with the more dimly lit areas of the arena. The white light even washes out the crowd at certain camera angles. The contrast ratios are on point, giving us a wide range of colors between lights and shadows, and the color palette looks and feels balanced.

It would be a disservice to fight fans if I did not compare the big hit camera rattle, flash, and pop to EA’s Fight Night series. ESBC is adopting a proven formula and building on it. It is smart, dare I say humble, and simultaneously honors the brilliance of the Fight Night series.

We can see that ESBC will use the six-axis control found in the analog sticks, aligned with Fight Night Champion’s design from 2011. Whereas Fight Night offered eight different throw types, some of the gestures on the right analog are difficult to access with precision. SCI’s decision to use map fewer gestures to the right analog should give gamers confidence in executing an intended punch. There is a more considerable margin for error.

According to ESBC’s website, the game will feature 36 punch types. To reach that number, the left and right bumpers will function as a body-punch modifier and power punch modifier, respectively. ESBC breaks from the Fight Night scheme; the latter uses the left trigger as both the lean mechanic and body punch modifier. It is a subtle change, and while I like Fight Night’s dual-purpose left trigger, I will reserve judgment on how ESBC’s controls play.

Now, let’s talk defense. ESBC showcased a check-hook punch in its gameplay preview, and I love the detailed design. The check-hooks appear to be coming off the back foot, with less bodyweight behind the throw. This implies it is used as a defensive measure instead of a fully-weighted, heavy hook with momentum. The check-hook looks like a mix of a jab and hook, quick and efficient. Further, the check-hook can use the opponent’s own body weight to your advantage as they lean into your throws.

ESBC distinguishes weaving in the pocket from a slip. SCI mirrors Fight Night Champion’s “weave in the pocket” mechanic — ESBC maps both to the left trigger.

Breaking from the Fight Night control layout, slips in ESBC are mapped to the left analog stick without a modifier or change in gestures. Players can perform a slip by a hard press of the left analog, whereas in FNC, a double-tap of the left analog launches a slip animation. Interestingly, SCI has mapped body movement to the left analog, too.

The slips animate when a player makes a gesture, and when a punch is within striking range of the fighter. The gameplay footage suggests that an AI-assist mechanic is working in the background of ESBC; determining when to slip, and when to move your entire fighter completely. We will see how it feels when the game’s demo drops and how well the game differentiates a slip from a simple shuffling of the feet to get out of danger.

So far, the demo looks intuitive. The slip mechanic appears AI-oriented, translating user gestures into intended outcomes. SCI is blending the motions available on the left analog stick and deploying the best movement for the situation; this implies SCI is running a predictive algorithm. Based on the smoothness of the motions in the gameplay video, I cannot wait to run with it.

As a Fight Night fan, I am thrilled to see ESBC’s control design. The fight engine looks sharp. There is even a glimpse of AI predictive motion built into the fight engine, demonstrating advanced programming. Now that SCI has established the foundation, it follows that SCI can continue to refine and bring fighters to life with signature style and individualized attributes.

Steel City Interactive walked us through a detailed process to recreate Jones Jr. The first step involves scanning and researching the fighter, which requires finding classic photos for reference. Then, the “de-aging” work begins. This includes sculpting the model and defining the fighter’s muscles, skin and features with Zbrush; it also entails developing various color map textures. Lastly, SCI tests the character in various lighting environments.

Steel City Interactive confirmed with SGO that ESBC will feature a dynamic fighter damage system. SCI created custom shaders and “blendshapes,” allowing them to portray the appearance of progressive damage as each fight plays out. The shaders update in real-time as you play the game to demonstrate damage based on each fighter’s health and damage stats. Accordingly, ESBC is measuring health and damage with each punch and each movement and using the data to contextually apply visual textures and shaders. The net result is the fighters drip sweat when tired, or appear bruised and battered after a long and grueling match.

Commentary (Unofficial): Paul Dempsey, Johnny Nelson, Craigh Stephen (Ring Announcer; Todd Grisham, TBD

Career: TBD

Customization: TBD

eSports Competitive Online: TBD

November 10, 2020: Official ESBC Alpha Movement Trailer